by Aj Frost

Created on: November 30, 2008   Last Updated: June 08, 2009

The Jewish idea of God is actually quite easy to understand: There is only one. Unlike Christianity, for example, which state that there is one God but divided into the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, Judaism rejects such a notion. From the viewpoint of Judaic study, there is just one God.

This idea of monotheism was a radical several thousand years ago, back when most of the world worshipped idols of all sorts. A quick story: We all know, or a great majority of us know, that Abraham is citied as the first Jewish man. How did this come to be? Abraham's father, Terah, was an idol maker. Abraham did not believe the idols his father made had any divineness or value. One day, Abraham went into his father's idol making store and broke every idol, save for the biggest. When Terah came back, he demanded to know what had happened. Abraham remarked, "The idols have all fought each other, and the biggest one won." Terah said, "That is preposterous. These idols aren't real." Abraham had shown that there are no such things as idols, simply the one God.

In a liturgical sense, there is one prayer in particular that exemplifies the one God mantra. This prayer, called the Sh'ma, is recited at least twice a day in the synagogue or elsewhere. The prayer goes: "Hear O Israel, I am the Lord your God, the Lord is One." A quick reading of the prayer simply states that there is one God. But a further reading into the prayer reveals some surprising and seemingly underestimated understandings. Firstly, it supposes that there is only one God. Secondly, it states that there is not more than one God. And thirdly, it states there is not less than one God. As can be discerned from these interpretations, the one God of Judaism has sustained its importance for millennia.

Furthermore, this comprehension of God also leads the Jews to understand his three main Raisons d'tre: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption. These three motifs are found throughout Jewish literature, prayer, and study. There are also straightforward and easy to understand. Creation, as it easily implies, refers to anything God has created: the World, the inhabitants of the world, the food of the world, etc. Revelation is more specific, referring to God providing the law, known as the Torah, to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Redemption refers to the time when the true Messiah, or anointed one, will bring peace throughout the world and the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt.

The Jewish understanding of God is not as complicated to learn as some other religions might make it out to be. There is only one God is Judaism and that is the way the Jews see themselves compared to other religions around the globe.

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